Kia ora I am pleased to report that the Food and Fibre CoVE has had a good first quarter of 2022, despite the continued uncertainty around COVID-19. We continue to build the strategies and structures to support the sector to grow vocational excellence and innovation this year and beyond.
A short while ago, general manager Paul Hollings and I were fortunate enough to be able to swap ideas with our counterparts at the Construction CoVE. Pardon the pun, but it was a very constructive meeting and both organisations are keen to work together on issues of shared interest. There were a number of areas where it was a win-win between the work they're doing and what we are working on. One such area for us was around the apprenticeship programmes. It is an area where our sector can do better, and we were able to explore how we can learn from their experience in terms of new programmes and apprenticeships. Another area that we want to investigate further together is sustainability. It is early days yet, but both organisations have done
some work on the issue and there appear to be similarities in what we are finding. Suffice to say, we could both move a bit faster if we were sharing information in that area. In a bid to keep the momentum going, we have agreed to catch up quarterly.
At the beginning of March, our Board and some members of the management team met with the team at the Workforce Development Council, Muka Tangata. It was rather challenging because COVID-19 meant we had to meet online, which was not ideal for an inaugural meeting. However, it was a signal of intent to support each other in the common cause around Food and Fibre. Any specific initiatives will have to wait until we are able to meet face to face. Finally as we are at the financial year end, I want to acknowledge the hard mahi that has gone into the Annual Report and the final reporting for year one to the TEC. I think the general assessment is that the year has gone very well, especially given the
constraints we have had to deal with because of COVID-19. The team has done well to overcome these difficulties. I am looking forward to the next financial year as there certainly is a growing body of work and a number of projects in the pipeline that'll be coming on in the 2022-23 year. With growing interest from the sector and support from vocational education providers, it is all looking positive. Ngā mihi nui
Dr Mark Paine
Chair
GM Update
– Paul Hollings
Kia ora tatou, it’s hard to believe but that as I write this, the FFCoVE office has been open now for over 12 months. The 1st of March was the anniversary date and so much has happened and has been achieved since that time. Since the FFCoVE office opened we have established the FFCoVE Society Incorporated, registered this with the Companies Office, the Charities Commission and the IRD. We have also set up banking arrangements We have established an MoA with Te Pūkenga and an SLA and Lease Agreement with our host, EIT. We have also signed a Mana Enhancing Agreement with Ako Aotearoa and look forward, as we do with all our other partners, to working in collaboration with them going forward. Further to the establishment
activity, we have established and completed all of the three foundation projects. In addition to this activity we have, in collaboration with various partners and consulting entities established some 10 other projects. These range from work to understand how Te Ao Maori can be integrated into a cadetship programme, a project to develop a micro-credentials system
In this feature we introduce the Food & Fibre CoVE staff members. Here is Jackie Lynch – Portfolio Manager at Food and Fibre CoVE. Where are you originally from? Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay. What are your qualifications and work experience? 30 years in education sector, Primary School Teacher, worked in a pre-school, taught English in Japan, past decade as a tertiary educator at EIT. BA – Education and Social Policy
Diploma in Teaching What is your role within the CoVE and when did you join? Portfolio Manager August 2021 What significant project(s) are you currently working on? The three significant projects are; Systems Approach to Micro credentials When the FFCoVE was originally established a number of Project suggestions were received that identified micro credentials as a solution to an industry wide problem of a lack of recognition for small bite sized pieces of learning. Those projects were combined and the systems approach to micro credentials was
developed. Residential and Group Training Research Project This project is researching the options that exist for Residential and Group training within the FF Sector. It will examine what has and hasn’t worked and the potential for an updated and modernised version of residential and/or group training delivery within the FF Sector.
through to research into the place residential and group training might have in the future of the food and fibre sector training eco-system. The remainder of our time has been spent establishing relationships and, as per the bottom-up philosophy of the FFCoVE, seeking expressions of interest and ideas for future projects from and in collaboration with the wider FFCoVE constituency. By August we had a full compliment of staff recruited and in place. As a consequence, we were able to ramp up the portfolio office and the project activity as described above really started to gather pace. As we closed out our first year and reflected on what we had achieved we realised that we had indeed been busy
but that there is so much more to do. One of the key things we are committing to in 2022 is the significant improvement of our communications both via this newsletter but also via social media, regular articles and updates, a long imagined national hui and now as New Zealand comes out the end of Omicron, much more face to face and getting around the country meeting with society members and other stakeholders. Something we are all looking forward to immensely. Ngā mihi Paul Paul Hollings
General Manager
Food and Fibre Cove
Training and Career Framework for the FF Sector. The aim of the project is to design flexible pathways which lead to positive outcomes for the Food and Fibre sector learners. This project will research and describe a range of pathways. This includes who will learn using the pathways, what pathway options are available, pathway entrance and exit points, flexibility in size of learning, type of learning, and how skills are taught, assessed, and recognised. What do you particularly enjoy about your job? Being in a position to help people become educated really sings to my heart. We have a very supportive and
collegial workplace that promotes idea generation which is so much of our roles. Looking for best practice and finding a way to scale that for national delivery is so interesting and stimulating to me anyway . Why is the FF CoVE so important for Hawke’s Bay, Tairawhiti and New Zealand? Education opens doors for people that they didn’t know were closed, people development and their education are vitally important for the FF sector which the East Coast region’s economy is based on. It’s not just about the qualifications it’s about the wider development of the person and their family and the connections they make while learning as well as income levels. Where do you live in Hawke’s Bay, and do you have a family? Onekawa, Napier with two sons What do you enjoy about living in the Bay? Climate, accessibility to beaches and the rest of NZ – it’s a really easy place to travel from People, I have a lot of friends and family here in HB. Lifestyle, it’s an easy and fun place to live What are your other interests outside work? Family, biking, swimming, cooking, gardening, quilting
Current Projects - Tupu Case Study
- Te Ao Māori Integration into Level 3 Māori Cadetship
- Year 7 and 8 STEM Programme
- Systems Approach to Micro-Credentials
- Work Integrated Learning pilots
- Training in the Shearing and Wool Industry
- Farm For life Case Study
- Food and Fibre Degree-level Apprenticeship
- Residential and Group Training Research Project
Under Development - Attraction and Retention Research Programme
- Food and Fibre Sector Leadership Framework
- Food and Fibre Training and Career Framework
L – R – Phil Hokianga and Graham Burke (Co-Chairs, ConCoVE), Pip Schollum-Manase (Interim Director, ConCoVE), Mark Paine (Chair, Food and Fibre CoVE), Paul Hollings (Director, Food and Fibre CoVE)
In late March 2022, the Food and Fibre CoVE and ConCoVE gathered in Hamilton for the first time since the two CoVE's came into existence. It was a great opportunity to share some of the mahi being undertaken by each CoVE and let’s be honest, having a face to face conversation was a welcome change! Looking toward the future, both CoVEs are looking forward to collaborating on various programmes and projects. Excellence in Vocational Education Excellence in Vocation is the standard for the Food and Fibre CoVE. We canvased the opinions experts across the sector, who have been involved from the start. Read what they had to say. Technology Enabled Learning Our techenabledlearning.nz website is providing resources and information to educators and providers in farming, forestry, horticulture and fishing. The website is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and links to it can be found on the websites of the TEC, the FFCoVE, Ako Aotearoa and Te Kete Ipurangi. Read [Link to be put in to TEL story] here to see what is on offer OTHER NEWS Knowledgebase As some of you know, Our Knowledgebase is finally up
and running and can be accessed here. As projects are born, executed and completed the outcomes, learnings, models etc that are generated from these will be made available through the Knowledgebase. We will also source good articles and research pieces for this page to enable progression toward vocational excellence in the Food and Fibre sector and beyond. We also encourage you to consider writing thought pieces or even white papers that address specific training and development issues as they apply to food and fibre. We will either publish these through the Knowledgebase and/or we will make them available as LinkedIn posts. Dates to Remember AGM The Food and Fibre CoVE Society Incorporated Annual General meeting is scheduled for 24 May 2022
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